Technology and Domestic Abuse: Safeguarding Survivors

This is a proposal of research to be conducted in fulfilment of a PhD in Social Work commencing in October 2020 and is subject to minor change.
Technology facilitated abuse is a 'high-risk' form of domestic abuse, leaving those experiencing it at an increased risk of serious injury or death. Current statistics in the UK show that two women are killed by their (ex)partner each week. Here, technology facilitated abuse will be defined as an individual's (ex)partner utilising personal devices and online accounts as a mechanism to abuse, a phenomenon which is believed to be rising alongside rapid advancement in accessibility and capability of technology.
This project will explore the impact of technology on safeguarding individuals who are in or have recently ended domestic abuse relationships. This proposal builds on original empirical research undertaken by the researcher, during which it was identified that technology was having a catastrophic impact on safeguarding and risk in domestic abuse.
Discussion around domestic abuse, in particular coercive control, using home and 'smart' technologies is emergent, with suggestions that remote and group control of household functions could be used to monitor or gaslight victims. This project will consider how a gender imbalance, favouring men, in design teams for large organisations developing smart technology impacts on the creation, implementation and (non)regulation of the appliances and applications which enable domestic control. Technology and the companies which design it currently show little sign of recognising the home as a potential site of violence, giving abusers the potential to increasingly strip their victim(s) of agency over their domestic environment.
The research will be theorised within a multidisciplinary Feminist and Science and Technology framework, recognising women and children as the primary group affected by domestic abuse. However, it will also be recognised that men may be victims of domestic abuse and that abuse may occur in same-sex relationships, the intention is to consider technology facilitated abuse experienced by people of any gender and any sexuality.
The aim and objectives of the research will be as follows (subject to minor changes):
1. To investigate the ways in which perpetrators use technology to abuse their partners during and post the abusive relationship and to explore the extent of this type of abuse in the UK.
2. To understand how survivors of domestic abuse use technology as a protective factor.
3. To evaluate the knowledge base of victims and support workers of the technologies which increase risk and threaten their safety, including how effectively practitioners are able to make evidence-based safeguarding decisions.
4. To understand how technology facilitated abuse affects the running of support services.

It is proposed that a two stage, mixed methods approach will be taken. The first stage will be based around qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, and the second stage will be an online survey, the content of which will be devised through thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews.
In addition to traditional academic outputs, it is intended that the findings from the research will be used to evaluate the guidance already produced by the Gender and IoT group in practice, and to produce documents for key stakeholders on evidence-based assessment of risk regarding domestic abuse and technology.